Hunter, Holder, Seeker, Whisperer-Version 20
by DarkAngelofOtaku
Summary: An upgraded revamp of my original story... now that we finally have all 100 Number Cards. My OC moves to Heartland with his mom just in time for the plot to take off. Expect all 100 Numbers, Arc-V cameos, and dueling out the wazoo.
1. Chapter 1

**Holder, Hunter, Seeker, Whisperer**

Welcome all to my rehash of my former Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal story; Number Three Musketeers. I hope this updated version will be better well-received. Some traits from the previous version will still be prevalent in this one… such as Rio having already healed from her accident and undergoing physical therapy, my OC being able to talk with the Numbers, ALL the Numbers appearing even if just briefly, etc. This story was touched up, as this first chapter is the only one left the same.

Now that we FINALLY have all 100 Numbers known; I can finally get this story off the ground. Some things about this story: firstly; there will be no original cards, only cards that actually exist in real life, anime, or manga. Secondly; there will be focus on the other extra deck summons that existed at the time, ala Fusions and Synchros, and not just Xyz. Third and finally; don't be surprised if you see a few Arc-V characters in this story. I see nothing wrong with adding in characters that didn't use pendulums because they could fit right in here in ZeXal. Also… I'll be including cameos of a few characters from other franchises, but not too many.

Disclaimer: I don't own ZeXal. If I did; Shark would've started collecting Numbers starting with Number 19: Freezadon in the tag duel.

Chapter 001: Infection Baal Zebul

The new student waited outside the classroom door for the teacher, a man named Mr. Kay, to introduce him to the class. His mother had suggested he start school on Friday so he could meet some new friends and have something do his first weekend in a new city, not to mention a new country.

The youth in question was thirteen-years-old and had just moved overseas from the US to Heartland City in Japan, due to his mother getting a promotion at her office job that required her to change branches.

He blew a strand of brown hair that had come loose out of his face and proceeded to gather his chocolate-colored locks that grew just past his shoulders, as if he were putting his hair into a ponytail, to make sure it looked good. Giving a sigh, he looked over his attire… a uniform.

Mom just had to enroll me in a school that had a uniform, he thought, rolling his green eyes; taking in his brown shoes, white socks, blue jeans, and white short-sleeved dress shirt with cuffs that matched his necktie in color. Said color identified what grade you were in; red (or pink for the girls) for first year, green for second year, and blue for third and final year. He wore red.

"You may come in now," Mr. Kay called from within.

The boy opened the door and walked to the front of the class, taking in everybody looking at him, noticing some of the girls giving him small smiles.

He bowed, "my name is JT Griffin. As Mr. Kay may have already told you, I'm from America. I look forward to getting to know my future friends and classmates."

"Now, does anyone have any questions for JT?" Mr. Kay asked.

"Ooh! Me! Me!" an excitable boy with weird-looking black and red hair waved his hand in a rather hyper matter.

"Yes, Yuma?" the teacher asked.

"My name's Yuma Tsukumo and I was wondering; do you duel?"

Some of the other kids snickered. Really? Practically everyone dueled this day and age.

JT smiled. Hello class clown, he mentally observed before answering the inquiry.

"I sure do," his smile changed into a smirk, "and if you're challenging me; I'll see you in the courtyard by the main entrance after school."

Yuma returned the smirk. "It's on!"

After school…

JT blew his nose, pocketing the used Kleenex, "stinkin' pollen. Stinkin' hay fever."

"Hey JT!" a familiar obnoxious voice called out to him.

JT turned to see Yuma with a very large boy with spiky black hair under a backwards red cap and a cute girl with green hair done in a bun with a pink ribbon.

"Brought your friends, have you?" JT noted.

"You bet I did!" Yuma replied, "these are my best pals, Bronk Stone and Tori Meadows."

The big guy, Bronk, smiled and raised his hand, "hey."

The girl, Tori, smiled, "nice to meet you. Welcome to Heartland."

JT nodded, "thanks. So Yuma, you ready for our duel?"

"I'm always ready!" Yuma arrogantly declared.

JT grinned, "I like your style. Let's duel it!"

"I'm gonna feel the flow!"

Both duelists readied their duel pads and duel gazers. Yuma's was red and his gazer was yellow and white with a green lens. JT's was dark green with a dark green and black gazer sporting a purple lens.

"Let's duel!" they both cried.

AUGMENTED REALITY VISION LINK ESTABLISHED

JT-4000/Yuma-4000

"You made the challenge so you can have the first move," JT nodded as he and Yuma drew their opening hands.

"Don't mind if I do," Yuma drew, "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

JT made his first draw, "I think I'll summon Skull Meister."

Before him materialized a black-haired man adorned in red and black robes with white fur trim. Sticking to sections of his raiment were various skulls, some human and some not. (1700/400)

"Attack his face-down monster with Boneyard Blitzkrieg!"

Skull Meister waved his arms, causing the skulls he wore to fire blasts of black magic towards Yuma's monster, which revealed itself to be a reddish-brown knight protected by a pair of blue shields with gold lining. (0/1800)

"Sorry JT," smiled Yuma, "but Ganbara Knight has more defense than your Skull Meister's attack."

"Not for long," JT retaliated, "I use the quick-play spell card, Forbidden Chalice. This card increases his attack by 400." (1700/400=2100/400)

The streaming waves of darkness ripped through Ganbara Knight like a hot knife through butter.

"I'll end my turn there," announced JT, Skull Meister's score resetting itself. (2100/400=1700/400)

"My move!" cried Yuma. He quickly checked his hand, "I summon Gagaga Magician!"

A navy blue and crimson-clad sorcerer decked out in chains appeared in front of him. (1500/1000)

"I also equip him with Wonder Wand, which increases his attack points by 500!" (1500/1000=2000/1000)

"Attack Skull Meister!"

Gagaga Magician aimed the wand, firing a greenish blast of magic at his foe, overwhelming and destroying the opponent's monster.

2000-1700=300

JT-3700/Yuma-4000

"Your move," Yuma gestured.

JT drew, "let's see what I got… I summon Effect Veiler."

Appearing on the field was a super cute girl with turquoise hair in twin-tails wearing a red choker, white sleeveless dress with red trim, detached white sleeves, black thigh-high stockings, and red ballet flats. (0/0)

"She's cute," Bronk commented.

"And since I've normal-summoned, I can special-summon Turbo Booster!" JT played another card. This one was a yellow machine with massive boost rockets for arms. (0/0)

"Both his monsters have zero attack," said Tori.

"But they're the same level," Bronk noted, "he must be going for a Xyz-summon."

JT made a sound like a buzzer, "wrong. I tune my level one Effect Veiler with my level one Turbo Booster…"

"Did he just say tune?!" Bronk yelped as Effect Veiler turned into a green ring while Turbo Booster passed through, becoming transparent with a star in it.

"… racing night and day, rev your engine and assist me in this duel. Synchro-summon! Ready, set, go, Formula Synchron!"

Replacing the two monsters was a red, green, white, yellow, but mostly blue Formula-1 race car with robotic arms and legs. It crouched down to indicate it was in defense mode. (200/1500)

"Holy cow!" cried Bronk, "a Synchro monster! Do you know how rare those are?!"

JT smiled, "and there's more. When Formula Synchron is Synchro-summoned, I get to draw a card."

He did so, raising the number of cards in his hand to four, "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

Yuma made his next draw. "Your toy car doesn't scare me! Gagaga Magician; attack!"

"Then how about my face-down card? I activate Forbidden Lance! One monster on the field loses 800 attack points and I choose your magician!"

Yuma gasped as Gagaga Magician's points dropped. (2000/1000=1200/1000)

JT smiled, "and there's more! Any monster affected by Forbidden Lance is immune to spell and trap cards for the turn… meaning your monster temporarily loses the power boost from Wonder Wand!"

This time Bronk and Tori joined Yuma in gasping. (1200/1000=700/1000)

The magical blast rebounded helplessly off Formula Synchron's casing.

1500-700=800

JT-3700/Yuma-3200

Yuma grabbed a card in his hand, "I'll play this face-down and end my turn."

Gagaga Magician's score reset. (700/1000=2000/1000)

"Back to me," JT announced, "I summon Eco, Mystical Spirit of the Forest."

Spouting from the ground was a cross between a woman and a tree. (1700/1000)

"Now I tune my level two Formula Synchron with my level four Eco…"

"Again?!" Bronk gaped as Formula Synchron become two green rings and the Mystical Spirit of the Forest turned transparent with four stars within her.

"… prowling through the darkness, great beast born from a bite. Synchro-summon! Howl, Celestial Wolf Lord-Blue Sirius!"

Tori and Bronk took a step back beholding the savage beast that now loomed on the field; a fearsome bluish lycanthrope sporting menacingly spiked silver armor with extra wolf heads where the hands should have been. (2400/1500)

JT pointed at Gagaga Magician, "tear his monster apart with Midnight Laceration!"

As the great beast got set to lunge, Yuma pressed a button on his duel pad.

"Your mutt ain't 'lacerating' anything! I activate Negate Attack!"

"Your turn, then. Let's see if you can soothe this savage beast," JT smiled.

Yuma grinned, seeing his draw.

"Be careful what you wish for! First I summon Achacha Archer!"

Standing on the magician's left was a yellow and gray-clad archer. (1200/600)

"When Achacha Archer is summoned, you take 500 points of damage!" Yuma excitedly explained.

JT-3200/Yuma-3200

"I also play a spell card… Full Force Strike! Now when one of my monsters battles one of yours, my guy survives and I take no damage… but your monster isn't so lucky! Achacha Archer; strike down Blue Sirius!"

The archer drew his bow, the arrowhead combusting into flame, and let it fly. The arrow pierced the wolf's gut, causing it to double over and growl in pain before exploding into pixelated nothingness.

"Now, Gagaga Magician; attack JT directly!"

The blast of green light emitted from the Wonder Wand struck JT head on, but to Yuma's confusion; his opponent didn't flinch.

JT-3200/Yuma-3200

"WHAT?!" Yuma exclaimed, "how come you didn't lose any life points?!"

JT pointed. "Take a look at Gagaga Magician."

Yuma did so… and pulled back in shock.

His signature monster's attack points had dropped… all the way to zero! (2000/1000=0/1000)

"What? How?" asked Tori, due to Yuma being too dumbfounded by this revelation to do so himself.

"It's all thanks to my Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius," JT explained with a grin, "when my feral friend is destroyed; his attack points are deducted from the attack points of one of my opponent's monsters."

Yuma looked at his hand; Dododo Warrior, Mini-Guts, and Stinging Swordsman couldn't help him at the moment, "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," JT declared, making his draw. Effect Veiler and Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius slid out of his graveyard, "I banish a light monster and a dark monster to special-summon Chaos Sorcerer!" Materializing was a grayish-purple skinned man wearing black leather robes and a sinister expression. (2300/2000)

"This duel is over," he declared, "I use the spell card, Double Attack! Now by discarding a monster from my hand, a lower level monster can attack twice. So I'll discard my level eight Beast King Barbaros to give that honor to my level six Chaos Sorcerer. Now… attack Achacha Archer and Gagaga Magician!"

The sorcerer smirked, materializing a wicked-looking sword in his right hand and lunging forth. With a downwards diagonal swing, he cleaved through the archer.

2300-1200=1100

JT-3200/Yuma-2100

Chaos Sorcerer then thrust his blade through Gagaga Magician's chest cavity… all the way to the hilt, all-the-while sporting a malicious grin at his victim's agony until it digitized away.

2300-0=2300

JT-WIN/Yuma-0

"Aw man!" whined Yuma, "I lost… but still; that was a fun duel! We gotta do it again some time!"

"Sounds like a plan," JT agreed.

"I can't believe you have Synchro monsters," Bronk awed, "they're really rare."

"And there's a lot more when they came from."

JT pulled out his extra deck, fanning it out to reveal that, except for a single fusion monster, his entire extra deck was made up of Synchro monsters.

"Ten to be exact," he explained, "one for each level from two to eleven."

"That's awesome!" Yuma praised, "let's keep dueling until you summon them all!"

"I'd love to," said JT, "but I should get home and take care of my homework so the weekend is all clear."

So they said their good-byes and JT headed off while Yuma and Bronk stuck around to do some more dueling.

But that was a mistake.

Bronk had foolishly stepped up to duel the school's resident bully, Reginald "Shark" Kastle, and lost big time, losing his deck in the process due to the previously established ante rule. Yuma, stepping up to bat for his friend, challenged Shark to win back the deck.

Little did the world know that during that duel, a great power would descend from the cosmos and widespread chaos would engulf the dueling community as duelists the world over would very soon have to contend with a "number" of problems.

And… done! This one's way longer than the original chapter one. Anyways, before you guys accuse me of my OC being a Gary Stu, remember; this chapter is set before the faithful duel. Before Astral and the Numbers; Yuma didn't have any Xyz monsters and his skills were… less than skillful. So, I am merely keeping characters in accordance with this point in the series timeline. Also; anyone care to guess what JT's first Number will be? Anyone who's read my first version might remember. Hopefully, I'll see you next time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hunter, Holder, Seeker, Whisperer**

Disclaimer: I don't own ZeXal. If I did; we wouldn't have gotten those stupid Numeron Gate monsters due to Infection Baal Zebul, Ninja Shadow Mosquito, Cicada King, and Stealth Kragen being far better.

Chapter 002: Ninja Shadow Mosquito

A translucent blue hand, not of this world, reached out… extracting a rectangular mass of energy from the body of the just defeated duelist and absorbed it.

A seemingly disembodied voice then spoke.

"I see… upon obtaining Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, I now know that, in order to regain my memories; I must collect all one hundred Number cards."

Elsewhere…

A young man, name of JT, was sitting in his room and perusing his duel monsters deck.

Hmm, he thought, these Synchro monsters can only take me so far. I'll need an Xyz monster or two… but unfortunately; those are kind of hard to come by.

As he pondered and pondered, a beam of light shone into his room.

He looked over with a start, "hmm… just a trick of the light. This concentration is getting to me."

Appearing before him was the spectral form of a young woman. This young woman had long turquoise hair in twin tails and donned a white ensemble with black stockings and red shoes.

"JT," she spoke to the youth, her voice calm and soothing, "it wasn't a trick of the light. Take a look there on the floor."

JT followed the direction the spirit's finger was pointing… to find a white rectangular form.

He got off his bed, walking over and approaching the object cautiously.

"What is it?" he asked, squatting down to get a better look.

The spirit girl looked at him, "I believe it's a card. But, a card unlike any I've seen."

JT reached out to pick up the supposed card.

"Be careful!" the spirit spoke.

"Relax, Effie," JT smiled, taking hold of the card… only for the light to fade away, revealing a Xyz monster. The picture depicted a man in seemingly Arabian garb, complete with turban, throwing daggers of blue energy. Upon the turban was a numerical designation.

Both the duelist JT and the duel spirit of Effect Veiler looked at the new card.

"Number…?"

Materializing next to them was a large man sporting black armor and spiky red hair with a gigantic sword strapped to his back and his arms were crossed, "I sense power coming from it. But is it malevolent of benign?"

"I'm sure it's safe, Gorz," Effie looked at her fellow spirit, "for if it wasn't; something would have most likely occurred by now."

JT continued to look at the card, "it's a rank seven. Aside from Gorz, I have only two level sevens… and they're both in my extra deck."

He got up, "I think I'll go hit a card shop."

Gorz nodded. "Good hunting," he acknowledged before he and Effie returned to their cards.

It was good hunting indeed.

JT had grabbed five packs and purchased a pretty decent level seven monster that could help his newfound xyz, not to mention his synchro strategies.

Sitting on a nearby bench outside the store, JT spent some time tweaking his deck upon opening the packs he had purchased.

He nodded, "there. All finished."

"How nice, kid. You got me some new cards."

He turned to see a skinny bald guy in sunglasses wearing a tan deerskin vest, no shirt, brownish orange pants, and black boots. The man activated his Duel Pad, "let's duel. And when I crush you, I'll take your cards, kid."

JT stood up, activating his Duel Pad, "you wish, creep."

AUGMENTED REALITY VISION LINK ESTABLISHED

JT-4000/Guy-4000

"I'll kick things off," the bald guy smirked, drawing his sixth card. His smirk grew even bigger once he perused his hand.

Perfect, he thought, I already have two pieces of my victory. He grabbed one of the cards in his hand.

"I set this monster in defense mode, not to mention play The Dark Door. Now we can each only attack with one monster per turn. That's it."

"My move," JT announced, "I summon Eco, Mystical Spirit of the Forest."

Before him appeared the tree/woman hybrid he had used against Yuma. (1700/1000)

"Attack!" he commanded.

Eco brought her hands together, firing off a blast of energy… a blast of energy which consumed the opponent's monster, revealing it to be a figure in red and blue robes. (100/100)

"You attacked my Crystal Seer," the guy grinned, "that triggers my monster's flip effect. Now I can look at the top two cards of my deck. One is added to my hand and the other goes to the bottom of my deck."

He picked up the top cards and made his decision.

"I'll play one card face-down and end my turn," finished JT.

The man drew, "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

"I activate Dust Tornado, destroying The Dark Door," JT spoke.

"Big whoop," his opponent sarcastically muttered, "I summon Kuriboh."

The infamous fuzzball now graced the field. (300/200)

"I also use Multiply, trading in Kuriboh for a Kuriboh Token in every monster zone I got," he pressed on, "naturally I play them all in defense mode. I'll also finish things up with two face-downs."

JT drew. 

"I activate Two-Pronged Attack, destroying two of my tokens to destroy your monster!"

"I summon Skull Meister," said JT.

A man adorned in bones with long black hair stood before him. (1700/400)

"Take out one of his tokens!"

Waves of dark energy consumed one of the tokens, dropping the number of his opponent's monsters to two.

The bald guy drew again, "I activate my other face-down card, Limit Reverse, to revive Kuriboh. I also chain Infernal Reckless Summon, summoning all my other Kuribohs. I now overlay my three level one Kuribohs. With these three monsters I build the overlay network."

Instead of the usual reddish vortex that appeared when one Xyz-summoned, this time a spiral galaxy manifested… and a glowing numeral appeared on the man's upper left arm, catching JT's attention.

"I Xyz-Summon… Number 56: Gold Rat!"

Taking shape on the field was a yellowish armored vermin, curled into a fetal position to indicate defense mode. (500/600)

"I now use his effect," the man continued, "I detach one overlay unit to draw a card and shuffle a card in my hand back to my deck."

He smirked at the card he drew, "let's see what you got, kid."

JT drew once more, "I summon Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring."

A cute girl in a white yukata with animal features materialized on the field. (0/1800)

"I tune my level three Ash Blossom with my level four Skull Meister," he declared.

Behind his shades, the man's eyes widened, "what?!"

Ash Blossom turned into three green rings with JT's other monster becoming transparent with four stars within her upon passing through.

"Swoop in for the victory, dive-bombing our foes to kingdom come. Synchro-summon! Appear now, Dark Strike Fighter!"

In place of JT's two monsters now stood a towering, bronze-colored anthropomorphic jet. (2600/1800)

"Now by tributing one monster, such as Dark Strike Fighter, you take two hundred points of damage for each of it's levels!" JT explained.

"What?!" the bald guy yelped, as Dark Strike Fighter got in his face… and violently exploded, knocking him on his butt.

JT-4000/Guy-2600

"I'll end my turn," JT stated.

His opponent drew, now holding four cards in his hand.

"I'll use Gold Rat's ability once again," he explained, drawing a replacement card and shuffling one back into his deck.

His face lit up.

Perfect, he thought, just one more card…

"I end my turn," he announced.

JT made his draw, "I use Magical Mallet, shuffling any cards in my hand back to my deck and drawing the same amount." He now held four cards.

Four cards that guaranteed his victory.

"First off, I discard Thunder Dragon… doing so let's me two more Thunder Dragons from my deck to my hand," he continued, raising his hand size by one, "now I use Polymerization to fuse them together, to call forth… Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"

Two winged serpents appeared before him flying upwards around each other in the form of a double helix, disappearing into an orb of light. The orb then slammed down to the ground and expanded, before dispersing and revealing a new monster. This new monster was large, red, and had two heads as it's name implied. (2800/2100)

JT then grabbed another card in his hand, "I now use Monster Reborn to revive Dark Strike Fighter!"

The large mechanical game-ender reappeared before him. (2600/1800)

"You're going to blow up your monsters and dish out more damage!" his opponent balked.

JT just shook his head, "no. You overheard me saying I had some new cards. Well, let you show you… a very special one."

He indicated both of his monsters, "I overlay my level seven Dark Strike Fighter and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon! With these two monsters I build the overlay network!"

As with the bald man's summoning, a spiral galaxy appeared in place of the standard Xyz portal.

The two monsters disappeared, their essences merging into one new form; a lean man decked out in middle-eastern attire, complete with turban, all colored blue. He also sported a similar colored cape and his waistcloth was festooned with bangles and gold. The man was also armed… with quite a few short swords. (2700/2300)

"I Xyz-summon… Number 74: Master of Blades!"

The man's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, "you have one of those Number things, too?!"

JT ignored him, taking the final card in his hand and placing it into one of the slots of his Duel Pad, "now I play Oni Gami Combo! By detaching all of an Xyz monster's overlay units, it can attack twice!"

"Big deal! I just need one more card and I'll obliterate…" his eyes glanced down to his life point counter, then to the display showing the new monsters stats.

His eyes widened once again, "I don't have enough points to survive the attack after he takes out my monster!"

JT swept his right arm out, "Master of Blades; destroy Number 56: Gold Rat with Blade Storm Devastation!"

Master of Blades leapt up and launched a volley of his weapons at the shiny rodent, tearing through it's metallic carapace, vanishing it from the field.

JT's opponent was now defenseless… and rightfully terrified.

"Now…" JT continued, "Master of Blades; let's show him what happens when you try to steal instead of earn. Finish him off!"

The bald guy cried out as the solid vision swords struck him, sending him slamming into the ground.

JT-WIN/Guy-0

Number 74 turned to JT, "quickly, sir: acquire his Number card."

JT blinked, "take his card?"

74 nodded, "some members of our kind are capable of swaying the thoughts and actions of individuals. It is best if my fellow Numbers were collected in the hands of a duelist such as yourself, sir."

JT nodded and rushed over, plucking up Number 56: Gold Rat as the hologram of Master of Blades disappeared.

JT then wisely set off for home before baldy regained his wits.

In JT's bedroom…

"So… there are 100 Number cards spread out?"

Master of Blades nodded, "indeed. I sense a few have already awoken. But be on your guard, sir; those who give in to the Numbers' influence are motivated to greedily collect more Numbers for their own selfish means. We must prevent this from coming to pass."

"We'll do everything we can to get your brethren away from the duelists who want to misuse you guys," JT nodded. He looked at the spirits of Gorz and Effect Veiler, who nodded in turn.

And… there's chapter two! In case you're wondering, since I had Number 56 show up here; what Number will Kite collect in his debut? Simple. The same one he acquired in the manga; Number 20. Also, I'll be showing some of the in-series duels but not all of them. For example, I'll be skipping Yuma's duel where he acquires Number 34. But I will be sticking to a chunk of the plot, but with a few twists. I'd tell you what those twists are… but that would relieve you of any desire to read my story. Until the next time!


End file.
